The grave humanitarian crisis in Iraq will become "a deadly life-threatening situation’’ if shelter isn’t found for over 160,000 people in Kurdistan before winter weather arrives in about six weeks

The grave humanitarian crisis in Iraq will become "a deadly life-threatening situation'' if shelter isn't found for over 160,000 people in Kurdistan before winter weather arrives in about six weeks, a senior U.N. official warned Tuesday.

Kevin Kennedy, the deputy humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, also told a news conference by video link from the Kurdish capital Irbil that getting aid to some 500,000 people in need of support in Anbar province, where the ISIL terrorist group continues to capture territory, is very difficult.

Last month, the U.N. World Food Program was able to feed 100,000 people in Anbar in a very challenging operation, and “if we're not able to get sufficient assistance there the people will suffer, no question,” as temperatures start plummeting, Kennedy said.

Kennedy said nearly $300 million is needed in the very near future for winterized tents, which cost between $6,000 and $8,000 apiece, as well as kerosene for heating and winter clothes and boots for tens of thousands of people who fled the fighting with only the clothes on their backs, many in flip-flops.

While much attention is currently focused on the terrorists' takeover of a large swath of Iraqi territory, Kennedy said, “we believe the humanitarian situation which is the other side of the coin deserves equal consideration.''

People who escaped the fighting are “very traumatized'' at what they have seen and the people they left behind, “so it's more than a crisis of needs and shelter and food and health ... it's a crisis of spirit and a crisis of hope here,'' Kennedy said.